


Burning That Chair

by wintershelter



Category: Black Sails
Genre: F/F, Grief/Mourning, Introspection, Post-Season/Series 04
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-14
Updated: 2018-06-14
Packaged: 2019-05-23 08:13:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14930529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wintershelter/pseuds/wintershelter
Summary: After the new regime is settled, Max makes good on her promise to Eleanor.





	Burning That Chair

It had taken some time to get Nassau settled. After Marion Guthrie's deal with them had been sealed, after Woodes Rogers had been arrested and sent him to debtor's prison, but now, finally, Nassau was stabilized under their new regime.

It was everything she had ever wanted. She ruled over Nassau, despite the appearance of Mr. Featherstone and Idelle as their Lord and Lady Governor. She had felt happy, stepping off the jetty with Jack and Anne, knowing that all their hard work hadn't been for nothing.

It wasn't until she had stepped onto the street that it had finally hit her.

This was the first time she had set foot on the island since the Spanish raid.

Since Eleanor's death.

She'd been on the island without Eleanor before, but it had been a different feeling. Eleanor had only been arrested. She had been gone, but she'd been alive. Even without news of her trial, Max had known she was still out there somewhere, but now... Eleanor was truly gone.

She would never set foot on this island she had spent her whole life trying to build. The island that had been hers long before Max had ever arrived... The island she had ultimately given Max up for.

Eleanor had been the one constant of this place for as long as she could remember.

Crews and captains changed fast. The major players came and went but Eleanor... She had always been there. She had told Rogers and Eleanor that _she_ was Nassau, but that hadn't been true until recently. Eleanor had held that role, had always held that role. And now she was gone.

It felt so foreign to Max when she finally set foot in Eleanor's office. She looked around, seeing her old gated bed and dresser, her desk and... that chair.

She felt a pang in her chest as she remembered the conversation she had had with Eleanor after betraying Anne for Nassau's survival... For _her_ own survival.

_One day when all is settled here, we should burn that fucking chair._

Eleanor had given her a smile over her cup of rum, silently agreeing with her.

Max felt her eyes well up with tears.

Eleanor deserved to be here. She deserved to see Nassau, secure and stabilized. She had fought so hard toward that end and because of Rogers, she would never get to see it.

In her darkest moments, she was angry that he only got prison. That was a punishment in of itself for a man like Rogers, but it was nowhere near the indignities Eleanor suffered. She had bled to death in the heat and flies because of a man who she had loved and sacrificed everything for. He deserved to suffer the pain and betrayal he had inflicted on Eleanor and more.

“Jack is looking for you.”

Max shook herself from her reverie and turned to Anne with a half smile.

“Okay, thank you.” Max said absently.

“You all right?” Anne asked, eyebrow crinkling under her hat.

Max was silent for a moment, before speaking quietly. “This is first time I have been in Nassau since Eleanor's death.”

Anne remained silent, staring at Max.

She knew Anne never liked Eleanor. Never approved of the things she did or wanted... Max couldn't blame her for it. Eleanor was a hard woman to understand. Even after being her lover, her rival and then her partner, there were still parts of Eleanor that she'd never truly understood. That she would never get the chance to understand now.

Anne didn't offer any words, just reaching for Max's hand in a show of support.

Max squeezed it back and felt Anne's love wash over her.

Anne was the only silver lining to the entire Spanish Invasion.

When Lieutenant Utley had told them that Rogers had invited Spain to attack them, nothing had mattered more to Max in that moment other than finding Eleanor. She had risked almost certain death in leaving the fort to find her. It was only by chance that Jack had been on the sand and had taken her to safety.

Once she had seen Anne half-beaten to death and found out that Eleanor was dead, it put a rage inside of her. She had wanted Nassau but she hadn't wanted to lose Eleanor and Anne as a result of it and standing in the belly of the Walrus she found she had lost Eleanor and nearly Anne too. She couldn't believe she had once made the choice to sever herself from Anne in the effort to secure her own position, that she had envisioned a life without her.

She couldn't imagine standing here on this island now without Anne by her side.

She placed a grateful kiss to Anne's lips. “We have much to do.” Max said, letting go of Anne's hand and following her out the door.

The business of the day kept her occupied, not letting her have the time for her thoughts to stray to darker things. It wasn't until night had fallen and Jack, Anne and Featherstone had retired for a nightcap that Max felt her mind drift back to the original matriarch of the place.

As the warm air blew her hair away from her face, she came to a decision.

She made her way towards the tavern, walking with purpose. She gathered up her skirts and ascended the wooden stairs and it wasn't long until she was standing at Eleanor's old desk. She took a deep breath and picked up the engraved chair.

It would have been easier for her to just call one of her boys to help her move it, but this was something she needed to do for herself. Her skirts tangled around as her legs as she maneuvered the chair to the back of the building.

It took her a moment to get the fire going. She watched as the flames slowly caught the branches and wooden logs in the dug out pit.

When the fire was roaring, she lifted the chair and placed it into the pit. She watched numbly as the flames licked up the sides of the chair, cackling as it started to consume it.

The night was warm and the smoke stung her eyes, making them water as the wind carried it toward her. At least that is what she told herself was the cause as the first tears fell. It was harder to convince herself as those tears turned to sobs in the night air.

Eleanor had been a huge part of her life in Nassau and it hurt to know that she was gone and she hated that she had never gotten a chance to say goodbye.

The fire gave a sharp pop as the chair fell on it's side, the legs disintegrating in the blistering heat.

Max took a shaky breath as she watched as the chair Eleanor had spent over a decade of her life sitting in go up in smoke. The chair that had caused her as much pain as it had brought her joy, maybe even more so, but Eleanor had never given it up. Despite all the opinions of the street and odds stacked against her at every turn, she had been a fighter to the bitter end.

It hadn't surprised her at all to learn she had died taking down a Spanish raider, fighting to save herself and her sister's life.

Rogers had had her buried in the cemetery near the east side of the Island. She hadn't been there to see her grave yet. The wound was still too fresh. Maybe someday she would take a trip and tell her grave everything she wished she could say to her alive, but for now, the grief held the words inside.

Max stood silently, watching as the fire charred the painted wood until it was unrecognizable. Max didn't say a single word as the fire died down to red and orange embers, the light breeze causing them to flicker and dance, though the wood was nearly all blackened by now.

“Goodbye, Eleanor.” Max whispered, voice breaking as she said the words.

She gave the ash and cinders one last long look before turning her back and walking away.

She could never truly leave Eleanor behind, their paths had been two intertwined for her to ever forgot her, but she could move forward and help shape the island in the image she had once envisioned... That they both had strived for.

She made her way to the Inn. Anne had finally convinced her to move out of the brothel and the two of them now shared a spacious room in a quiet place.

She had entered their room to find no candles lit, though she could see a figure lying on the bed in the moonlight that streamed in through the window.

Max undressed herself from her bodice and skirts before making her way over to where Anne was laying.

“You smell like smoke.” Anne murmured as Max slid into bed next to her.

“I made a promise to someone I had to uphold.” Max explained, watching Anne's blue eyes in the low light.

Anne hummed and bent down to press a kiss to Max's shoulder. “And it's done?”

Max nodded, tucking her head onto Anne's collarbone. She felt as the red head carded her fingers through her hair. It always amazed her how gentle Anne was with her. Those same fingers had held blades that had done great violence to many men, but they were never anything but soft and loving as they traced patterns onto Max's skin.

Max let her eyes fall closed and soaked in the warmth that Anne radiated.

Eleanor was dead and maybe there was some part of that she would never fully recover from. Eleanor had been her friend and partner and she had been taken from this life way too soon, but she knew from experience that time was healing.

Time had helped her and Eleanor repair their relationship after their break up. Time had helped her and Jack come to an understanding with one another. And it was time that had helped her earn back Anne's trust when all hope seemed lost.

She wrapped an arm around Anne's waist and shifted closer to her as she drifted off to sleep, feeling safe and warm, knowing that although things may hurt now, that someday it would be okay.

 


End file.
